If there is one Swiss army knife that every college student needs, this one is it. Qiqqa, a research tool, makes writing papers a breeze. I have never seen a tool out there like this and I definitely wish it was around while I was in school. However, you're in luck. Qiqqa is currently offering its alpha version for free to users and it's said that a free version will remain available for users upon release. In this article, I'll break down some of the current features of Qiqqa and let you know if it's really worth your time.

Organization

Everybody knows that writing a research paper can be a major pain when you're unorganized. However, Qiqqa makes quick work of that by 

allowing you to organize all the PDF's that you find online. Now, you might be wondering, why this is useful. Well, Qiqqa organizes all your documents into a database where it can actually make them searchable. Unfortunately, most PDFs aren't text searchable, but Qiqqa will use a featured tool called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scan and images searchable.

The ability to search several documents at once or even a plethora will save you time. This gives you, the researcher, the ability to skim and download documents on the fly and organize them into a database to sift through later. I found this significant in any research tool. There are some slight cons for this great feature, however.

OCR can take a long time to complete. I had a handful of old research documents that I threw into Qiqqa expecting them to OCR on the fly, but that wasn't the case. Whether the final version will address the time it takes for this process to run, you could expect spending hours OCRing files based on your computers speed.

I ran the test on my old laptop running an Intel Core 2 Duo 2Ghz processor. With about 900 pages to OCR, it was still not done after 10 hours. On the other hand, I ran the same test using my newer Intel Quad Core 2.33 Ghz computer and there were definite differences. The OCR process sped right through in a few hours. Although this tool will work well on a laptop, make sure to give OCR plenty of time to run its program.

Meta-Data

Qiqqa makes organizing your meta-data a breeze with its intuitive ribbon that appears when you open a PDF. You're given information about the Title, Author, Year, Tag, and other great features like Ratings and Reading Stage. But that's not all, to help populate the meta-data faster, you can use the BibTex feature which searches the title of the document on Google Scholar to track down meta-data. The designer claims this works most of the time, but I found it worked "sometimes." Whether it appears in Google Scholar or not will depend on where you found the document in the first place. I'm sure if more databases are used, this feature will excel.

Organizing Chunks of Information

While you're skimming through research documents, you may find chunks that can be useful to run back to. Sometimes trying to highlight and mark information on PDF readers can be very difficult. You might even find yourself writing things down by hand. This process takes a lot of time. Luckily, Qiqqa gives you the ability to highlight images and text while you research. Just simply using the annotation tool in segments you want to review later will give you the option to aggregate them later by generating a report with all the sections you selected.

Brainstorming 

To get started on your research, Qiqqa even adds a somewhat primitive brainstorm tool that allows you to make simple charts to help your ideas flow. It's simple enough, yet you have it at your disposal.

Features Lacking

1. I wish there was some way to filter documents by folders instead of tags. I'd like to be able to clump a set of research documents into one project without having to include research documents in other topic areas.
2. The auto-table of contents feature still needs some work as some documents aren't recognized properly in this area. However, this isn't a deal breaker.
3. It might be useful to enable sharing opportunities for researchers who are working with others. I'm sure this feature will probably be added in the future.

Take a Closer Look

Have you ever needed an image editing program but couldn’t afford Photoshop? Have you tried the Gimp only to find yourself confused and in need of much help? Look no further, because Pixlr is here to save the day. Widely compared to Photoshop, Pixlr can do just about the basics of Photoshop for no cost at all. Even better, you don’t have to download anything (even illegally for that matter). If you’re ever in a pinch to make a banner, make photo changes, or even uses brushes to create cool effects, you can hop on a computer and load up Pixlr right on your web browser.

Pixlr Color Replace Tool (Toy Story 3)

Class is out and the last things probably on your mind are text books. However, for many of you, summer school or summer jobs might be up your alley. I know it’s been a long 6 months since University Ninja has had any major articles up online. To be honest, you probably don’t even care. However, after finally graduating and the long summer to kill, I’ll be working on some useful articles and videos to help you prepare for summer, jobs, and the next school year. As usual I’ll be tackling the tech and some cool and nifty ways to save you time and money. In addition, I hope to get a refresh on the website that you’ll probably see by the time this goes up. I’m also planning to get video content up to compliment the articles. Hopefully it’ll keep things from getting dry. I haven’t given up on University Ninja just yet…stay tuned everybody.

My biggest pet peeve and probably the most preventable problem, is email etiquette. How many times have you received a mass email only to find out that the emailer forgot a number of items, or someone just happen to reply all. In this tutorial, I write about the pitfalls of emails and what you can do about idiot proofing emails. So stop being an email n00b and learn how to finally put together a well thought email. It’s a lot easier than you think and it’ll save you tons of time in the long run.

Image from: http://www.nasddds.org

Meetings/Events/Dates:

How many times have you ever received an email only to find that the user put this in the SUBJECT:

Meeting @ Starbucks

First of all, what’s the problem with this subject heading? It’s too vague. One, it doesn’t tell me the date, the time, and the subject matter. In our busy lives, people don’t have time to read lengthy emails. Why make life harder for everyone by being so ambiguous. Here’s a more appropriate title:

Meeting:  5/12/10 @ Starbucks 5PM (On Campus) for Planning Committee

The new SUBJECT tells me much more detail. So if I’m skimming through my email, I notice a meeting request, I know the date, time, location, and subject. If you are the sender and the most important thing is for you to bring people to a meeting, this is all the information they need. It’s short, concise, and straight to the point. However, we can still improve this SUBJECT by one more notch.

Instead of just putting 5/12/10, you might want to add the day. Why? Most people schedule routinely activities based on the day. For example, if you tell me lets meet on Thursday, the first thing that goes through my mind is the classes and meetings I have that day. However, if you just put 5/12/10, then I’m trying to figure out, what day is this? What am I doing on this day? Do I have to open up a calendar?

Can you see how this might be irritating for a person? It only takes a few moments on your part to look it up and add it to the title. So here’s the final version:

Meeting: Wednesday 5/12/10 @ Starbucks 5PM (On Campus) for Planning Committee

This is what an effective SUBJECT heading should look like. When I see this pop up in an email, I can access all the information about it. I won’t get into Calendar Events with programs like Outlook or Google Calendar. If you do use them, there are great ways to arrange meetings.

Email List, Mass Email:

For the love of all hamsters, please, please, please double, no, triple check your email list before you send it out. If you have a special email group list, then that’s fine, but if you don’t, make sure you check who’s getting emails.

Have you ever used CC’d? It means carbon copy. It lets the main “To:” person know that you have sent this to another person for reference.  But have you ever used BCC? It stands for Black Carbon Copy, it’s a way to send an email out without the “To:” person knowing you ever sent a reference to another person. BCC is almost like a ghost field. If you ever send emails out to unrelated people, use BCC. In practice, using BCC prevents other people on a mailing list from finding other people’s email. This also prevents one person from mass replying back to a list.

Email Content – The Body:

When you put an email together, make it simple and digestable. The last thing I want to read when I open up an email is a 15 line paragraph. Obviously this all depends on the setting. However, if you have to go through emails on a daily basis, seeing a bulky email is not one for the faint of heart. I find myself beginning to read only to find out the sender wants to have a meeting at Starbucks at 5PM on Tuesday. Here’s an example:

Don’t Do This:

Hey dudes, 

We need to set up for a conference. We’ve got a few days left and I wanted to touch base. How about we setup a meeting at Starbucks around 5PM on Tuesday? I think we still need to talk about speakers and food so make sure to come prepared. See you soon. Oh, why don’t we set it up for like next week, not this Tuesday, but the next one.

Matt

I can’t tell you enough, how often I see emails like these. Some emails are longer than this, 3 or 4 times longer sometimes. Can you tell what’s wrong? I don’t know the exact Starbucks and I don’t know which Tuesday it is.

You don’t need a whole paragraph to tell a person that.

Do This:

Meeting: Planning Committee

Date: Wednesday 5/12/10

Time: 5:00PM

Location: Starbucks (on Campus)

Content: Hey guys, we’re meeting to finalize the details for the conference we’re putting together. Hit me up with an email or call me if you have any questions.

Matt

Do you see how easy this is to digest? I open up an email I see what the meeting is about, the date, the time, and the location. The sender even added a small blurb. I’ll read it because he was so nice to. It leaves absolutely no guessing on the readers part.

Email Signatures

Have you ever gotten those emails from professionals and you find that they have some tag on the bottom. It usually shows their name, their title, company, and phone number. This is usually easy to do for most people. You can even set it up in Gmail or programs like Outlook. But why do this? If you’re the type of person that has to send out emails on a frequent basis, where your contact info is important for people to have, you might want to add this. This gives the receiver some quick info on who you are, just in case you forgot. 

Don’t Do This:

Dear John,

I want to inform you that we’re relocating your desk as of next week. You will be relocated to the second floor so you can best work with your new team members.

Sally

What’s wrong?:

Can you see the problem with this email? Sure contextually it makes sense, but what if you don’t know Sally? Who is this person to tell you that you’re being moved? In an instant, you need to send a reply to find out what happened. An uncessary reply only if Sally was more diligent with a signature.

Do This:

Dear John,

I want to inform you that your boss Steve has asked me to move you to the second floor next week on Monday. Steve feels that you’ll be able to work more efficiently with your teams members on the second floor.

Sally Kay

Human Resources Director

Office 2012

Phone: 555-555-1234

Can you see how this seems better? Now you know who authorized the move, and you know where Sally is from. It makes sense that some from HR is planning your move. At this point, there’s no need for a second email.

I didn't talk about grammar or other etiquettes about emailing friends versus co-workers. I'm more than positive you can figure out the proper tone you should be using. These tips are more useful for the people who go to school and have to email club members, lab groups, and etc. I'm honestly tired of having to read through poorly crafted emails that leave important details out.

If you ever have to write an important email, then take it seriously like an essay. Write it up, then save it in draft. Come back to it 30 minutes or later and reread asking if you left anything out. This prevents a whole lot of problems people usually experience.

If you have a tip or trick on how to put together good emails, feel free to send an email over to ninjauniversity@gmail.com

About two weeks ago I decided to clean my Dell XPS m1210. I normally do this on a montly basis. It was suppose to be a routine clean. Open up the laptop, get the compressed air, and be done with it. However, that didn’t happen. As usual, I’m always fascinated by technology and I like to open gadgets up more than they should. Now, I didn’t open my laptop further just to guaze at it, but it was a suggestion for a complete cleaning method. Long story short, I popped open my laptop to an undesirable level (took about 20 minutes). To clean the fan, I needed to remove the heatsink. Little did I know my CPU was firmly attached to the heatskink because of the thermal paste.  I accidently damaged the CPU holder (or so I thought). After I put everything together I thought the laptop would boot right back up but it didn’t. My first conlcusion was that I totally ruined my laptop. Great I thought (somewhat sarcastically), let’s find a netbook to replace it.

I already knew a lot about netbooks before my research began. I knew about the processor speeds and the capabilities of most netbooks out on the market. Honestly, they weren’t stunning. I was very use to the Intel Core 2 Duo processor which was very capable. How would suddenly jumping to an Intel Atom Processor be great for me? So since netbooks largest bottle neck was its processor, the next best thing was to find one that could manage to play videos really well, particularly 720P or even 1080p for that matter. Fortunately, Nvidia had brought the ion to the table.

The ion came off as a promising discrete card, apparently a 9400m. If used and coupled with the proper software, high def video playing and encoding could be done with record speed. It was because of this notion I decided to pursue the HP mini 311.

When I brought the netbook home I was hoping to witness a wonderous device. However, it was more dismal than wonderful. First the netbook mouse and mousepad were terrible. It’s design caused the cursor to jump to random locations as I typed. Video playback on Youtube was subpar, even with the 10.1 Flash Beta. Although hard disk playback of video is fine, playing videos off the internet were not. I tried playing Hulu videos and that was skippy and 720P videos on Youtube were just as mediocre. I was firmly disappointed.

When I finally had time on the weekend to look at my dear XPS m1210, I opened it up once more to see if I could fix it. Maybe the CPU chassis wasn’t damaged. So I did a little bit of fiddling in that area and whole and behold, my laptop turned on. I was amazed but also sort of stunned. Because now I had two laptop devices and one wasn’t really doing the job for me.

Don’t get me wrong, the HP mini 311 is a great device, but it doesn’t give me that rugged feel to it, like its kin, the HP mini 210. The HP mini 311 feels very flimsy as though a drop would pretty much destroy it. And although my XPS is getting old in its looks, it’s actually built very tough. I’ve dropped it a number of times, spilled water, and a tire has run over it and it still runs fantastic. If my netbook were to experience any of those, it was practically game over.

My final thoughts:

1.       Buy a netbook you know feels sturdy. Trust me, if you’re a butterfinger at all, you’ll want a netbook that can take a few punches.

2.       Buy a netbook for what it’s intended for. It’s a device to get you online, type some document, and maybe watch some videos.

3.       Check the mousepad reviews before buying. Some netbooks have terrible mousepads. This can be very annoying even if you have to get use to it.

4.       Go for a netbook with good battery life. You’re obviously getting one for all day computing, try to get the most out of it. Some netbooks reach 10 hours.

5.       Even with Ion, gaming with the latest games is ridiculous. If you’re a gamer, keep your games on your desktop and play them there. The framerates and quality are still subpar even with the Ion processor. Maybe when Ion 2 comes out things will change, but the Intel Atom processor really bogs the system down.

6.       Windows 7 runs snappier if you can get it, but expect to lose an hour on your battery life, maybe even a little more.

When I use a laptop, I want it to run smooth and fast. Unfortunately, a netbook just doesn’t offer that to me at this point. Sometimes the lag and delays can be very frustrating, especially when you need that speed at important times. If you’re the type that is use to this speed and comfort, I would suggest avoiding the Intel Atom Processor and scoot a long towards an Intel Core 2 Duo at least. The battery life for most might not be as glamorous, but it will do the work you want it to.

HP mini 311 image from: http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/hp-mini-311-netbook_1.jpg

I just want to throw my two cents into the Apple iPad. I don’t care if you read this; I just want to lay out my thoughts. As a bonus, I’ll throw in how I think this device will change education. So if you care to read on into the device that kept Apple Fanboys and tech enthusiast on ice, feel free to continue. On the other hand, I’m sure you can get your daily dose of Apple Fanboyism from many other sources.

 I got my first Apple product not too long ago, almost 2 years to be exact. I purchased the item as a pre-gift for myself for signing my life away to go skydiving. I thought at the time, well, if my chute doesn’t open, I might as well have spent a week playing with one of the most tech saavy devices on Earth (at the time). My exposure to the product came at intervals. I met friends, acquaintences, and strangers who had the device. Usually my first question was, “Do you like it?” Most individuals I asked gave positive reviews. Can I touch it?

The tactile features of this device are probably the biggest selling point of the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch line. I do not think, without a doubt, that without such an engaging and beautiful piece of engineering would I have actually considered purchasing one. Anyway, I bought into the fantasy, the Pandora. My first Apple product was the 2^nd generation iPod Touch. How do I use it now?

I have a thought that any device that claims to do multitudes of tasks is lying to the masses. At the essense of any multicapable devices out there, the origin, the core of that products strength, will be what most people use it for after the fanfare and candle are out. For example, the iPod touch touts to be a device that can connect you to the internet, play music, play videos, and utilize a slew of applications and games. My iPod touch has been a great app for email, facebook, and staying connected to the internet. Somehow I don’t use the maps features or youtube or many of the games that developers are outputting.  Don’t get me wrong, there are great games out there, but I don’t claim to use my device for it.

At the core, the iPod touch plays music and video very well like its earlier kin. It runs a browser exceptionally well for its size, and email is dealt with effectively, but not efficiently. I still use it, but my love for it slowly wanes. This device, for all its pennies in worth, does almost what it touted to accomplish. Yet it is at the core of the individual to decide what to make of it. And so, we move on to the iPad hysteria and anti-iPad militia that’s beginnging to form. Here’s my thought on it.

When the last Apple Event opened up some months ago, everyone was expecting a possible new device. The iTablet or something of that name is what everyone figured it’d be called. Did it show up? No. Were there any signs to its development and creation? Not the least. As humans, and beings who can delve and expand our imaginations, we fell in love with the Apple iPhone/iTouch. That Apple, bringing such great devices would tout a new and evolutionary product at hand.

Some speculate that the product was built as a result from rumours. The ongoing rumours themselves perpetuated the production of the device only to satiate the desires of the public. Of course, when people want something so badly, we normally get what we want. Or did we?

The Apple iPad is a somwhat large rectangular (4:3) device. It’s smaller than a magazine, but small enough to comfortably hold into your hands. It’s a device that essentially does all the things and Ipod Touch can do except on a larger scale. But to call it an overgrown iPod would be disrespectful to the amazing feats this device has already embarked on setting.

Education

The shear contrast and color of the device offers a rich experience, one that couldn’t be tarnished by a e-ink display. Applying notes and bookmarks will probably be even easier, maybe even more fun in some way. Now, let’s hope McGraw Hill can correct its mistakes and have them back on board with Apple to share their products. Reading books just isn’t the half of it.

Going online on a device such as the iPad will make life so much easier. I love the iPod touch mobility to surf the net, but the small screen can take its toll. Being able to read and digest information in a more native size can be a good thing probably for both the body and your eyes. Imagine, your sitting with your friends and someone brings something up no one knows about.  Bamn, bust out your iPad, make a search on the net, and you got a device that can display media and text to a larger group of people. It’ not as portable as its smaller sibling, but it’s the size that counts.

I wanted to use my iPod touch as a device to replace bringing my laptop to class. However, trying to utilize my iPod touch to read PDF documents was a mess. It was just too small to effectively look at anything. Now, I can have a device next to me that can display documents much more clearly and effectively. And if you’re worried about catching all the words in class, there’s a built in mic.

The iPad, although webcam-less, adds a mic. The mic will let you record lecture or any important things you need. There’s a ton of other reasons why this device will be amazing, but let me jump into some of the arguments.

Arguments

The iPad doesn’t have HDMI. Well, the device is a Pad, like a legal pad and when did you ever think of connecting it to your HDTV. Honestly I would like it, but hey, it’s their product and for whatever reason it wasn’t included.

How can I play my web videos without Flash? Now this one was somewhat annoying. I mean, its been 2-3 years now since lack of flash was brought to the attention of iPhone users. But I mean, we’ve learn to live without. I don’t think after the past 3 generations of iPhone devices that people are still clammering about missing flash. In addition, the incoporation of html 5 and video providers moving onto that support will nonetheless stop Adobe in its track.

No front facing camera. Seriously, what’s with the obsession with a camera? The device was designed to be used in a particular way. While you’re sitting down on a couch its sort of angled in a way, or when you’re using it in a meeting, its probably flat down or slightly tilted up. I don’t think the device was necessarily designed for you to hold it infront of your face while you video conferenced the entire time. Again, why would you expect to video chat while you have the device on your lap. Your caller doesn’t want to see your nose hairs.

Of course I think these features would be great, instead of people having to use dongles to incorporate their devices. Even the USB device that’s no where to be found was a must have for folks.

As I mentioned, we tend to imagine a product right for us, a product to have all the bells and whistles. I mean, if you’ve been following Apple, you know they never throw everything onto the table. It would eliminate the 2^nd generation of a product. Let Apple have its fanfare and millions from this device. More than likely, the owner will find a purpose that suits his or her needs.

Will I buy one?

When I have money and I’ve made a clear list of all the uses that it can have for me. This might equate into the second generation iPad.

Have you ever wanted to know how teachers grade their courses? Well for about 10 quids or cheaper if you split it amongst friends, you can dig dirt on your teachers grading habits. Why might this be imporatant? It’ll actually give you an indication of how hard you need to work your butt or if you should ever take the class. I’m not going to do a full review of the site, just on the actual features you care about. Continue reading to learn more.

(Img from: http://ui02.gamespot.com/1249/digdug1b_2.png)

A little background about this website, before myedu.com came about, the contents on this website use to be free. I don’t remember what the website use to be called, but myedu apparently took it over (don’t quote me on that). Anyway, somehow myedu has access to professor grading habits and now they’re capitalizing on it. But before you go blowing 10 quids, you might just want to bargain with your friends.

10 dollars for a whole year isn’t too much, but if you’re like most college students, you need to scrape by. My recommendation is to find a buddy or two who are willing to split the cost. I’m sure you can do that on your own.

Verdict:

I don’t know if I can give my blessing over purchasing these services. Now, myedu offers a lot of other features with graduation planning and useful academic management, but who uses that stuff anyway. Below is a image of the information your shown below when you look up a class and professor grade distribution. I only recommend buying this if you can get your friends to split the cost.